Dingy Sailing. Child Friendly Solent Clubs ?
Discussion
Hi.
Need some guidance on Dingy racing / experience for children.
Daughter (12) sails, has done all the RYA courses and sails at local club at least weekly, does well in local races but apart from a week in Plymouth this is Lake based.
She is also in Sea Cadets and by all accounts is genuinely pretty good at sailing, and more importantly loves it.
All good but thinking now of next steps.
Want to progress and gain more coastal experience this year but struggling to find out details regarding racing or clubs at this level, might be me but I found the RYA website is just confusing if you are not from that background and our local club is not helpful.
Main question is does any one know of a friendly coastal club that would be worth joining that is doable from London, sure most don't want an influx of "outsiders" rocking up on the odd sunny days, so happy to be involved where needed.
Or is it best to just buy a boat and get stuck in yourself, entering races adhoc...if so any advice on storage/launching areas...
Need some guidance on Dingy racing / experience for children.
Daughter (12) sails, has done all the RYA courses and sails at local club at least weekly, does well in local races but apart from a week in Plymouth this is Lake based.
She is also in Sea Cadets and by all accounts is genuinely pretty good at sailing, and more importantly loves it.
All good but thinking now of next steps.
Want to progress and gain more coastal experience this year but struggling to find out details regarding racing or clubs at this level, might be me but I found the RYA website is just confusing if you are not from that background and our local club is not helpful.
Main question is does any one know of a friendly coastal club that would be worth joining that is doable from London, sure most don't want an influx of "outsiders" rocking up on the odd sunny days, so happy to be involved where needed.
Or is it best to just buy a boat and get stuck in yourself, entering races adhoc...if so any advice on storage/launching areas...
Depending on what you daughter is sailing the class association will be a great source of information and training including costal.
The current trend seems to be that youth sailors mainly sail/race at their home club having fun and then each month go training at Stokes, HISC or Weymouth.. where it’s a bit more serious, it seems the RYA are trying to move away from the Regional Squads of old.
Some clubs are also centres of excellence and have academy weekends.
The current trend seems to be that youth sailors mainly sail/race at their home club having fun and then each month go training at Stokes, HISC or Weymouth.. where it’s a bit more serious, it seems the RYA are trying to move away from the Regional Squads of old.
Some clubs are also centres of excellence and have academy weekends.
HISC is probably one of the best clubs if she wants to get serious about racing - was a member until this year - but now keep boat at Hamble so no longer go there. A few of the young guys who sail on my boat come from HISC - big focus on youth sailing development and very family orientated club - if you are coming from London - its a fast trip down A3 - l now appreciate how much closer it was for me now I have to travel further. Stokes has a good reputation for quality sailors too - other poster who is a member best to give you input.
This was all great, been looking into these during the week.
Thanks a lot.
Will go down and look at both clubs both look a great position, certainly compared to the lakes....
HISC having the accommodation seems really good, have to see how it works in realty.
Also saw the Andrew Simpson sites do training and races every week.
So, early season straight in at AndrewSimpson, pick a class, pick a club then use this year to build skills, have fun.
Good to know there are some genuine options.
Cheers all
Thanks a lot.
Will go down and look at both clubs both look a great position, certainly compared to the lakes....
HISC having the accommodation seems really good, have to see how it works in realty.
Also saw the Andrew Simpson sites do training and races every week.
So, early season straight in at AndrewSimpson, pick a class, pick a club then use this year to build skills, have fun.
Good to know there are some genuine options.
Cheers all
Depending on where you live, a club at the wrong end of the Solent very inconvenient.
Weekend traffic in the area is often dire.
A lot to be said for joining one of the nearer clubs!
(and that's assuming we're only talking about the clubs on the Big North Island side.)
There are a lot of clubs.
Varying standards of racing, varying cost, varying facilities.
Some of the clubs are quite biased towards yachts and just do a bit of dinghy racing on the side for kids.
Others are just dinghies.
Some clubs are tidal, so race times will be dictated by ties and vary every week.
Some shut down for the winter, to a greater or lesser degree.
Some are really Harbour sailing, some it's kind of estuary, some it's more like the actual sea with proper waves and all that.
Some clubs are very 'local', a bit weird to outsiders.
My opinion would be to consider Lymington, Warsash, Hamble River, Weston, Lee-on-Solent, Stokes Bay, Locks, Mengeham, HISC, Chichester YC, if you expand the area, then Christchurch and Worthing are also worth a look
Nothing wrong with most of the others, particualrly if you live within staggering distance...
It's a few years since I sailed in that area.
Personally, I would get a list of nearest clubs from the RYA website, or Noble insurance have some resources on their website IIRC.
Then look at club websites and facebook pages to see who's actually sailing what in their results. Then go and say hello and decide whether you fit in.
Weekend traffic in the area is often dire.
A lot to be said for joining one of the nearer clubs!
(and that's assuming we're only talking about the clubs on the Big North Island side.)
There are a lot of clubs.
Varying standards of racing, varying cost, varying facilities.
Some of the clubs are quite biased towards yachts and just do a bit of dinghy racing on the side for kids.
Others are just dinghies.
Some clubs are tidal, so race times will be dictated by ties and vary every week.
Some shut down for the winter, to a greater or lesser degree.
Some are really Harbour sailing, some it's kind of estuary, some it's more like the actual sea with proper waves and all that.
Some clubs are very 'local', a bit weird to outsiders.
My opinion would be to consider Lymington, Warsash, Hamble River, Weston, Lee-on-Solent, Stokes Bay, Locks, Mengeham, HISC, Chichester YC, if you expand the area, then Christchurch and Worthing are also worth a look
Nothing wrong with most of the others, particualrly if you live within staggering distance...
It's a few years since I sailed in that area.
Personally, I would get a list of nearest clubs from the RYA website, or Noble insurance have some resources on their website IIRC.
Then look at club websites and facebook pages to see who's actually sailing what in their results. Then go and say hello and decide whether you fit in.
Gassing Station | Boats, Planes & Trains | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff